Hristijan is walking the streets of Frankfurt with the blonde in tow. She's clinging to his arm while tinkering with her Sony Camera, those with shiny and jet-black extenders.
"How much longer do we have until we reach Voigt Square?" Angelov asks her.
"We should be arriving soon..." she mumbles, not looking at him.
"You're not very enthusiastic about this mission, are you?" Angelov chuckles.
She snaps her head to him. "I commissioned this! I want this! Just do your job, or your son will get it!"
Hristijan shuts his mouth; he looks straight ahead. Even if he's going to betray his clan, he can do it. For his son. For his wife. And for his family.
When they arrive, Elmo sits at the end of the bench under the bridge, eating a baguette.
"Hi. My name's Hristijan." Angelov introduces himself.
"The French know how to make bread, but I prefer my Pumpernickel." Elmo gestures the both of them to sit on the bench across from him.
"What did you want?" Elmo asks, munching on his baguette (The wrong way) without caring.
"We're here to discuss something. Something about you and madam's Heir." Hristijan says.
"You've got yourself a mistress?" Elmo raises his eyebrows.
"What? No, we're not... get to the point, Schoeler." Hristijan says, irritated.
"She is indeed Madam's 'heir' but not by blood and chosen arbitrarily. I'm willing to shelter her until she's good to go." Elmo stands up, looking at Angelov.
"So give her to me," Hristijan suggests, raising both brows.
"No!" Elmo protests, taking two steps closer to him.
"Why?"
"She's mine." Elmo pauses. "You already have a girl, what? Do you want a harem?"
'Uhmm,' Hristijan takes a step forward but is stopped by the blonde.
"Don't interfere." She brings up her camera.
The shutters snap quickly as the surroundings start to receive some pressure.
Elmo's first instinct is to block, and the invisible blades clang against his knives for hands.
Mechanical sounds are like clockwork as he runs and glides.
But no matter how far he goes, the attacks seem to catch up to him.
He ducks under head height and attempts to bypass her conduit, but wherever the camera points is a target.
He sees that she's a stationary target, but her range widens every second, and her attack time increases with every passing second.
His body starts feeling heavy and tired. It's difficult moving fast for long, and his breathing becomes more labored. His muscles hurt, his whole body aches and his clothes feel sticky.
But somehow, he can continue running even though it is almost impossible.
Like a cockroach, he runs around her as she manages to hit his blocking arms.
He puts down his arms for a second to rest, but as quick as lightning, a hole as large as a fist punches through his Left Lumbar, barely avoiding his spine. He grunts in pain as he tries once again to defend himself, but his body is getting too drained to react.
Blood gushes out like the hoover dam, soaking his shirt.
Just a few seconds ago, he could dodge her weapon, but now... he has lost.
Her attacks are relentless. Every strike seems determined to bring him down ultimately. Her accuracy is impressive. But it doesn't matter because he's not losing.
He's still standing.
"A dose of Fentanyl," he mutters, smiling triumphantly, before retreating away.
As soon as he's far away enough, he starts sprinting towards his car parked a couple of feet away. With one hand holding his chest, he struggles to open the door and collapses in the car.
"Tsk, are you sure your organization has some good ones?" Karin spits on the ground.
Hristijan remains silent. However, the fact that she's more potent than him does not reassure him.
"You can forget about ever having another chance to find her like this..." the blonde states, as her eyes follow Elmo into the car and onto the street.
Annie looks back from time to time to Hilde, who's busy searching for information.
"Look at the pictures of him. That's definitely the woman!" Annie comments as she looks at Felix's last photo.
"And this one is slightly different from the others," Annie adds.
Hilde is deep in thought... Faith Bock...
"Isn't that the~."
"I've been replaced so quickly." Hilde staggers to the bed from her seat at the bedside stable.
"Hilde, you okay?" Annie questions worriedly.
"Yeah, I just need a moment," she mumbles, sitting in the bed.
Annie sits down beside her and pulls her into an embrace. Hilde returns the hug, resting her head against Annie's shoulder.
Annie lets her hold Hilde for a moment before pulling away slightly.
"So, you said you wanted to talk to me about something?" Annie asks, breaking the silence.
"Well, actually, I think I should say something to you." Hilde begins.
"Oh?" Annie tilts her head.
"I... I know I'm always saying this, but please take care of my little brother. When he's sad, he cries. And when he's happy, he screams."
"Oh..." Annie didn't expect Hilde to confess that, especially since she didn't seem to be close to him.
"I think I've gotten myself in deep trouble... and my little brother is in the United States." Hilde clasps Annie's hand and looks up at her.
"If something happens to me, please go get to him," she says.
Annie stays quiet for a moment and then nods. "Okay, I promise." she smiles.
"Good," Hilde replies. "I love you, Annie."
"I... yeah... I love you too." Annie looks down.
Hilde smiles and pulls away.
"I hope I can see you after all this; you're my best friend forever."
Annie shows a strained smile. "Me too."
"Bye." Hilde stands up and walks out of the room.
Annie sighs in frustration and leans her head against the pillow. Many things are happening inside her, but nothing seems to come out.
"Damn it." she groans.
******
The metal clanging echoed through the safe house; Elmo staggers into the living room, the carpets getting soaked in blood. He swings his arm, causing the coffee table to be sliced in half. The glass shattering makes the entire area tremble, and everything darkens.
"Huh. So this is all this racket." Hilde looks at the man lying on the ground. She has accepted that this new job is dangerous, but this is a little too gnarly. She bends down and kicks the man's leg, making him groan in pain.
"Yo, what the fuck!" Elmo groans, trying to sit up.
"Shhh, don't try to move. We have to go. Now." Hilde tells him.
"You guessed what I was about to say." Elmo sighs. "Are you always this smart?"
"What do you mean?"
"Did you get over that Felix boy?"
"Of course not." Hilde scoffs, turning around to leave. "Now, let's hurry up."
She sits in the dining area, where food is already prepared. Horus is already eating while Elmo staggers to his seat. Annie's face is ashen; she looks down as she eats fish.
After Elmo's stomach is satisfied, he gets up from his chair and walks to the fridge, where he finds a water bottle. As he opens the bottle, he notices it isn't empty and drinks from it slowly.
"Is she all right?" Elmo asks, looking at the plate of fish on the side.
"You're scaring her, obviously." Hilde rolls her eyes.
"Elmo, I challenge you to a duel." Horus suddenly speaks up, a smug look appearing on his face.
"Oh? You're really bold today." Elmo saunters back to his seat.